Ultimate mud shoes

[75K30]

Originally Posted by eponator

Ummm... I hate to sound like a newbie but why do you cut the nubs off your tires? I imagine it has something to do with traction? It looks like you only cut about 2/3 of the nub off as well. Can you please explain your reasoning behind this?

I'm just getting into mudding so I don't really know too much about it heh.

Alright, A serious question. So all kidding aside.

The knobs are designed to be cut away. If you ever hear of anyone running "cut" tires, this is what they are referring to. If you hear Grooved tires, then, they may have large voids cut right into the tread. This makes the tread much more pliable, and allows the tire to grip rocks and different terrain.
Now, in this application, the "cut" tire is there to grab as much mud as possible. Moving in mud has to do with displacement of the mud. Grab as much as you can, and throw it with force. This displacement will provide foward motion. Making the tire more aggressive means that a greater amount of foward motion can be accomplished. The draw back is the amount of power that it not takes to turn the tire.
These tires were cut on the conservative side. This means that instead of cutting the entire knob of, some of the knob was left to limit the amount of mud it could hold between the voids. Too much removal means that the engine will have to work harder to turn the tire.
This was a process to determine how much was too much. For those of you that caught that, this means that you have to cut too much to determine this. Unfortunately once this threshold is reached the tire becomes almost useless.
Getting side tracked, so back on track.
Once the traction level is achieved the vehicle can be tuned for optimum performance.
Some mud may be different than others and having some tires that are groomed for each application is a must. Sometime this can be the difference between getting stuck and being the hero.
Satisfaction costs some money, and tuning tires is part of the fun, even iff it costs a few bucks.
BTW, once these tires have been cut, they are litterally useless for the street.

[75K30]

Originally Posted by bradrhale

pet rock?? i was thinking more along the lines of the chia pet. but i have to know, 75, was this your idea that spawned from sitting around doing nothing?? instead of screws, couldnt you heat and or glue them to the sole??

Actually, I was displeased with the thought of not being able to use the amount of rubber that we were grooming off of the tires. Seems like a waste of money. Not being one to throw too much away, I figured that I could make some jokester type stuff, and have some fun.
Yes, I do have a little too much time on my hands.
Interesting that you mention this bonding deal. After a few coldies last night, I had the same idea. Today, we are working on a vulcanizing process to try to get the knobs to stay attached.
We have ruined a few shoes already. Seems that shoes melt at a different rate than the tire. Might have to work out a chemical type bonding agent.
Back to the drawing board!

[03chevy]

hey 75 what about epoxy but it takes it awhile to bond good

[75K30]

Originally Posted by 03chevy

hey 75 what about epoxy but it takes it awhile to bond good

Problem with many epoxy type adhesives is that they become brittle once they dry. Since shoes are flexable this makes the lugs fall off.

Crab had a real good idea, and he mentioned the tire rubber sandals. I might just use this idea. This actual tire tread would actually take the vulcanizing process without destrying the shoe.
Ahhh, this went from a fun thing to something serious.
I tried walking on the shoe with the screws. It was a complete failure. Had a blow out and lost three lugs. Started pulling real hard to that side, and got a case of the vibes real bad. I had to slow my walk down.

Almost needed a "TOE Truck".

Instead of calling "AAA" I was directed to "EEE"

Dr said I was gonna get lead poisoning from the weights used to balance them. They had to stick the weights to my ankle.

Had a gel sole in the shoe, and a screw popped one. Made a mess.

[76silverado]

I loled! Thats great!!

[Kennyray]

Question, how do you air down for the soft stuff? Or will they slip off your feet that way?

[75K30]

Keeping the bead on is a tough deal. Throwing a shoe right off of the foot is common.
Gonna run the beadlock idea though the R&D dept. again.
Might have to start drinking again.....

[Kennyray]

Great thread, and I'm drinking coffee.

[dave8590]

you got me sold, how much?
size 11 btw

[75K30]

Originally Posted by dave8590

you got me sold, how much?
size 11 btw

Alright, You buy me a set of tires, have them sent to my shop, and I will make you your very own pair!!!!
Oh yeah, I will need some shoes too, I am slowly running out........